


Do You Like Me

by PenguinxHero



Category: South Park
Genre: Fluff, Humor, I Killed Kenny, I'm a Bastard, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-09
Updated: 2013-02-09
Packaged: 2017-11-28 19:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/677935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenguinxHero/pseuds/PenguinxHero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucky pennies, questions scrawled on notebook paper, and enough fluffy sweetness to keep dentists busy for a long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Like Me

**~Do You Like Me~**

Today was the day. Nothing could stop him. Not the opinions of his classmates, not the risk of rejection – not even the disapproval from his parents.

“Oh, hamburgers…” Butters muttered to himself, eyebrows knit together as he thought of just how sore his parents would be with him if they knew what he had planned for today.

But once again the same image floated into his mind, reminding him of the fact that this was something that he had to do: those bright blue eyes that were always filled with laughter, the sun-kissed blond hair that he was just dying to run his fingers through, and that gorgeous smile that always made him weak in the knees…

What his parents didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

With that thought in mind, Butters clenched his fist around the object in his hand and readjusted his backpack strap on his shoulder. The image of him standing in front of the school – Hello Kitty barrettes glinting in his hair and bright green converse in stark contrast to the pavement – was made only that much fiercer by the battle-ready expression on his face.

Oh, yes – Butters was a man on a mission. 

“Oh, Jesus! H-he looks like he’s going to explode, man!” a shrill voice sounded off to his right.

Another much more even, monotone voice placated the original speaker. “Chill, Tweekers. I think he’s just constipated.”

Out of his peripheral vision, Butters spotted Craig and Tweek strolling up to the front doors (right on time in a completely “nice and boring” manner). As usual, the blond was jittering and quaking like he’d had at least ten cups of coffee that morning, while his tall companion appeared as if a tornado could tear through the area right in front of him and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. The unlikely pair passed by him holding hands and went into the school, Tweek shooting bewildered glances over his shoulder at Butters all the while, and he found his face flushing a bright red.

Ducking his head to look at the sidewalk, Butters shuffled quickly inside just as the school bus happened to roll up in front.

A quick detour to his locker provided him ample time to gather his books for his first few blocks and also give himself a mental pep talk as he looked at himself in the mirror tacked to his locker door. He needed to remind himself of why he was doing this a few more times lest he chicken out.

Upon seeing his reflection, his anxiety increased tenfold. It wasn’t because of his appearance ( _hell_ no, he didn’t spend an hour and a half in the bathroom getting ready that morning for him to look anything less than _damn_ fine), but rather that looking himself in the eye just made what he was going to have to do in a few minute all that much more real.

Loud, obnoxious laughter sounded off somewhere down the hallway.

That was his cue.

Jutting his chest out and staring himself dead in the eye, Butters attempted to exude confidence as he said, “It’s g-go time, b-bitches.”

He paused, deflating a little.

That probably would’ve sounded a lot more badass if he didn’t stutter so darn much.

Shaking his head rapidly to get his thoughts back on the task at hand, Butters closed his locker and started what seemed to him to be the longest trek down that particular hallway ever. Meanwhile, halfway down said corridor from Butters, a certain blonde was getting things in order for the day ahead. Bending over gracefully, a stack of textbooks was retrieved after which a hand reached out delicately to spin the dial on the locker door. Lips pursed in annoyance as the sight that greeted their owner was that of yet another bouquet of roses placed there by yet _another_ secret admirer.

Bebe Stevens just couldn’t catch a break.

The sound of sneakers slapping against linoleum was jarring enough to draw the head cheerleader’s attention, and she turned her head just in time to see Butters marching down the hallway with a determined look on his face.

The girl could sense already that this would probably end in tears, and it definitely wasn’t going to be from her.

“Oh, Butters… That was really sweet of you. Roses _are_ my favourite – but this doesn’t change anything. Me and Wends meant it last week when we came out; it wasn’t a joke no matter what fatass says. Maybe if you’d came to me when I’d still been in denial… But still. All around, it’s better if we just stay friends–”

“Morning, Bebe!” Butters spared her a wave and a smile as he passed right on by.

Bebe blinked.

She felt the presence of her best friend long before anything was said, and she glanced over to see Wendy standing beside her, gazing off quizzically in the same direction she had just been looking in with the bouquet of roses laying suspiciously trampled at her feet.

“What was that about?” the brunette asked, eyebrow quirked.

Bebe shook her head, blonde curls bouncing all the while, and answered honestly, “I have no freaking idea.”

They both watched as Butters continued on his way down the hallway, startling a great deal many more students that were loitering around as they waited for the bell to ring, his destination unclear to all but himself.

What was clear, however, was that he was headed there in a hurry.

Finally, Butters caught sight of what he had been looking for: a green ushanka, a blue beanie, a turquoise toque, and – most importantly – an orange hood. Well, it was more like these things were just a confirmation; he’d already spotted Cartman’s ass halfway down the hallway.

He could do this. He had hung out with them many a time before; this was no different. He could _do_ this.

“Hey, fellas!” he called to them, waving not _too_ eagerly and trying not to look _too_ much like he’d just power-walked across half the school to get to them.

Cartman and Kyle, as expected, were already so involved in one of their heated arguments that neither of them had become aware of his presence. Stan had at least managed a wave while holding back Kyle from doing something that he’d mildly regret later, but Butters wasn’t even paying attention to any of them. No – he was paying attention to the way a pair of bright, azure eyes lit up and by the way they shone (although he couldn’t see a mouth because of the fur-line hood obscuring half of his features), Butters knew the boy was smiling.

“Hmf mmph!”

 _Hey, dude!_ Two words that had no right making Butters’ heart beat so fast.

He _so_ couldn’t do this.

Luckily, he was saved from making the decision right away by the events that followed.

Three things happened right then: Cartman made a particularly rude gesture, Kyle turned an ugly shade of puce, and Stan lost his grip on the back of Kyle’s jacket. The redhead lunged. This wouldn’t have been so bad, really (Butters was among the vast majority that would have loved to have seen Cartman get punched in the face), if not for the fact that the sudden release of tension on Kyle’s jacket caused him to change course and swing towards the wrong target.

The hallway was suddenly quiet.

It would have been almost comical, the way Kyle had frozen with his fist touching Kenny’s nose and the blond just staring at him in bewilderment. Butters couldn’t bring himself to laugh. Suddenly, blood started to trickle from Kenny’s nose and Kyle stumbled backwards, hand to his mouth and eyes as wide as saucers. Stan’s mouth moved up and down as if trying to produce an apology for his friend’s actions, but nothing came out.

That’s when Cartman started laughing.

“Nice going, Jew,” he sneered, his large gut still jiggling with his laughter.

Almost as one, the occupants of the hallway heaved a sigh and carried on with their business.

Kyle must have not even heard him, because his eyes were still glued to the blond bleeding in front of him. “Kenny, I am–”

“ _So_ sorry,” Stan finished for him, apparently having gotten control of his vocal abilities once more.

Kyle shot him a glance over his shoulder, eyebrows raised, and Stan shrugged sheepishly.

Butters, throughout all of this, still had his attention on Kenny. The boy in question swiped a hand across his nose, taking the blood with it, but some of it had stained the fur lining his hood. He lowered his hood then, and Butters realized with a great deal of surprise that he was smiling.

Actually, scratch that – he was full-out _beaming_.

“It’s cool,” was all he said.

Four pairs of eyes took measure of him for a moment.

“ _What_?” Cartman demanded. “That’s it?”

Kenny shrugged.

Cartman sputtered before lifting his nose in the air. “Freak,” he sniffed. Then, he swung his girth around and stomped off down the hallway.

The bell rang just then. Butters found himself thinking that as much as he didn’t like Cartman, he had to admit that he knew how to make an exit. He wouldn’t put it past him to have memorized the bell schedule for just that reason.

For once, Kyle wasn’t insisting on them speeding off to class. In fact, Stan was the first one to move. As soon as he saw that no-one was following him, however, he hung back.

There was a frown on Kyle’s face, but a decidedly soft look in his eyes. “We should take you to the nurse.”

Here was Butter’s chance.

“I’ll take him!” he piped up, perhaps a bit too eagerly, and now everyone was looking at him.

Butters shrank under their gazes, hunching his shoulders and bumping his knuckles. He was just about to retract his statement when he felt an arm slide around his shoulders.

“Thanks, Buttercup,” Kenny said, that same strange smile still in place. “You two head off to class now. Kyle shouldn’t have to ruin that perfect attendance record for little ‘ole me.” He shooed them away with a flippant gesture of his hand.

Butters just remembered then that he also had a perfect attendance record to worry about, but he liked the feeling of Kenny’s arm around him far too much to complain.

He had his priorities.

Kyle and Stan shared a look before saying in tandem, “If you say so.” Then, moving almost as if they were one entity, they turned around and set off for class.

There was a mischievous gleam in Kenny’s eyes as he watched their retreating forms. “Well, isn’t that cute.”

“What is?” Butters blinked up at him, all too aware of the fact that Kenny still had his arm around his shoulder.

The mischievous gleam was then directed at him as Kenny looked down at him, although there was a component of it that Butter’s recognized all too well. It was the ‘are-you-really-that-innocent’ look. In which case, Butters would have to say: yes, yes he is.

“Nothing,” Kenny said with a lazy smirk. He removed his arm, and Butters was ashamed with how quickly and fiercely he missed its presence.

Indulging in his old nervous habit of bumping his knuckles together, Butters cast his gaze about the hall. He tried to remember the reason why they were even here together in the first place. All he could think about was the object in his pocket, the object that he was going to…

“So. Are y’ taking me to the nurse or am I going to bleed to death after all?”

Butters found himself blinking rapidly for the second time during their conversation as he was forcefully removed from his thoughts. “Um… It’s just a nosebleed… But, yeah.”

Kenny swiped a hand across his nose, smearing the blood even more, and he beamed. “With me, it’s never just a nosebleed.”

Butters just nodded – even if he really didn’t understand.

Then, because he really couldn’t think of anything more to say (anything other than bringing up the matter of what was in his pocket which, oh God, he was so not ready for yet), Butters turned on his heel and started off for the nurse’s office. He could hear Kenny’s footsteps start up behind him, and he smiled at the realization that he was actually following.

Because Kenny wanted to go to the nurse’s office – duh. It had nothing to do with Butters whatsoever.

The smile fell from his face just as quickly as it had come.

Of course, Kenny was a pretty lanky boy, so it didn’t take long for his lengthier strides to overtake Butters’. Soon enough, Butters was the one keeping up to him, and not the other way around. As they turned the corner, Butters swore he saw the edge of Kenny’s lips twitch into a smile, and suddenly the taller blond was walking at a pace that he found much easier to keep up to.

Butters was a naturally chatty person by nature, and so now that he had enough breath to succeed in the task, he took advantage of it. “Why are you smiling so much?”

Kenny shot him a grin over his shoulder, almost in a mocking manner. “I just like smiling s’all.”

“Yeah, but you just got punched in the face not even five minutes ago.”

“So? Your point?”

Butters frowned. “Well… Gee. I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense, Ken.”

They both stopped walking. The nurse’s office was now only five feet away.

The other boy shrugged. “It doesn’t have to.” Suddenly, Kenny was smiling again. “I just have this feeling, see. Today’s gonna be a lucky day.”

Butters felt a wave of nervousness instantly overtake him. “Hamburgers…” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“N-nothing.” Butters bit his lip. “… You really think so?”

Kenny just nodded, entirely self-assured in a way that Butters desperately wished he could feel right now.

There’s no time like the present, he reminded himself. Taking a deep breath, he dug the cursed object out of his pocket and presented it to Kenny like it was his heart that he’d just ripped, still beating, out of his own chest. To be fair, it probably took just as much effort. Nonetheless, Kenny just stared at it calmly.

After all, it _was_ just a slip of folded up notebook paper.

Kenny tilted his head to the side in a way that reminded Butters of a puppy. “What’s this?”

Before he could blink, the paper was plucked from his hands and Kenny was already starting to open it.

“No!” he shouted at him.

Kenny froze, still looking at him in that composed way, like nothing could faze him – which almost made it worse.

Butters blushed. “Wait until you’re in class.” He closed his hand over Kenny’s, securing the paper there.

If at all possible, he flushed even further. Then, unable to handle Kenny’s presence any further, he scampered off to class.

It was only when he got there that he realized that he had forgotten all of his books and his backpack by his locker.

* * *

 

 About fifteen minutes before the bell signalling the end of first period, Kenny slipped into class. The blond being late for various reasons (legit or not) was such a common occurrence that the teacher didn’t even stop the lesson to acknowledge his presence. In fact, none of the other students so much as turned their heads – all except for Butters.

Butters watched through sly glances out of his peripheral vision as Kenny made his way over to his assigned seat, dodging all sorts of projectiles and stepping over outstretched legs in the aisle without even looking at them. One stray spitball happened to hit Kenny’s parka, but the boy just went on smiling like it had never happened. Sliding into his seat, Kenny made a show of pulling the piece of paper out of his pocket, aiming an even more exaggerated – if at all possible – grin in Butters’ direction.

Then, it was laid open in his hands, and there was no turning back.

Butters ducked his head and flushed something fierce. Trying to maintain at least some semblance of normalcy in case someone happened to be looking at him, he put his pencil to his paper and tried to give a damn about sinusoidal functions. Unfortunately, all of his damns were used up having been spent on worrying about Kenny’s reaction to the words that he was most certainly now reading.

He almost wished at that moment that it had been his heart that he had given to him and not a stupid note; at least that way he wouldn’t have to feel the acute discomfort of his heart trying to hammer its way out of his chest right now.

Sure that enough time had passed by now, Butters took another peek in Kenny’s direction. Just like him, the boy in the orange parka had his head down, appearing to actually be doing the assigned work. Of course, knowing Kenny, Butters thought this very unlikely. He wasn’t too surprised when Kenny ceased writing and passed the note back to him. His expression was strangely blank.

Butters took the note from his hand, suddenly feeling intensely ill.

Work was entirely forgotten as he spent the rest of the class staring at the words in front of him.

In his own handwriting: **Do you like me? Yes or No?**

And underneath, in Kenny’s chicken scratch, were the words that made him wish that he had never done such a stupid thing in the first place.

_We need to talk. Meet me behind the wood shop after school._

* * *

 It was with great anxiety that Butters followed the directive in the note. He knew Kenny was probably very sore with him, just _knew it_ , and he was terrified that he had ruined their friendship – or rather, acquaintanceship.

… Or whatever it was that they were to each other.

The constant glares from the Goth kids, who used the space behind the wood shop as their smoking area, didn’t help either. He tried waving at them to break the ice, but they all just gave him the finger.

It took a full ten minutes of waiting before Kenny showed up, most of which Butters spent staring at his sneakers.

“Hey!” Kenny shouted to him as he walked up, grinning from ear to ear. “’Sorry about the wait.”

Butters eyed his sopping wet clothes and hair with surprise, and his worries were momentarily forgotten. “What h-happened to you?”

“The lunch ladies were moving a huge pot of mystery soup for tomorrow’s lunch down to the cafeteria, and one of the wheels on the platform busted. I ended up getting covered in soup, but I dodged the pot at the last second. That thing could have killed me, dude! Can you believe my luck today?”

Butters frowned. “It does seem pretty bad, Ken.”

“Are you kidding?” Kenny asked, his eyes going comically wide. “I’d take being covered in soup over death any day. Besides, a quick shower in the locker room got rid of the worst of it.”

Butters couldn’t help but smile. “You still smell like ch-chicken, though…”

This brought another grin to Kenny’s face, and he shook his head like a big, shaggy dog after a bath. Droplets of water went everywhere and Butters laughed, putting up his arms to shield himself. The Goth kids weren’t near as amused.

“Can you go be a dick somewhere else?” Henrietta growled, her glare intensifying to murderous levels.

Even though her tone of voice startled Butters, he couldn’t help but find the way that all of the Goth kids were shielding their cigarettes from being extinguished particularly hilarious.

Kenny obviously wasn’t afraid of showing how much the situation amused him, because his grin got even wider. “Henrietta, babe, you always say the sweetest things.”

Scowling, Henrietta flipped him off.

They’re almost as bad as Craig, Butters thought to himself.

Kenny chuckled. “C’mon, Butters. We’ve got places to be.”

With that, Kenny hooked his arm with Butters and started them off walking. Butters found his brain being filled with about a hundred questions all at once, but his mouth wasn’t up to the task of voicing all of them. So instead, he blurted out the first thing that had occurred to him.

“Wh-where are you taking me?”

“I’m walking you home. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really… A-and it seems more like you’re dragging me.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

They stopped, and Kenny let go of his arm. Awkwardly, they stood facing each other for what seemed to be an eternity, but was really only a few minutes. Butters was amazed, watching Kenny stick his hands in his hands in his pockets and shuffle his feet, that the blond actually seemed to be shy. That was definitely a first.

“Here,” Kenny said at length, holding something out to him. “I found this today, and I want you to have it.”

Butters’ heart stuttered, and he was reminded of the similar circumstances that morning in which he had given Kenny the note. Blushing, he unfolded Kenny’s fingers to reveal a shiny, copper penny. It was in that moment that Kenny took advantage of his confusion by tilting his chin up with his other hand and claiming his lips with his own in a kiss. Butters was sure his heart had stopped beating entirely, but then his ears finally stopped ringing and heat flashed over his face proving this not to be true. The one thing that he was absolutely certain of was that _he_ was now the one grinning like an idiot.

Kenny pulled back then to look at him. “I told you today was gonna be lucky.” He was just smiling – not grinning, not smirking – and Butters stared at him in awe.

“B-but what about the note?” Butters asked.

Kenny shrugged and chuckled. “Actions speak louder than words, right?”

Butters nodded, looking at him very seriously. Then, he threw his arms around Kenny’s neck, raised himself up on his toes, and smashed his lips to his. It took a few moments for Kenny to respond, obviously shocked that Butters would take the initiative, but he eventually did – with enthusiasm. Butters didn’t even notice as Kenny lifted him off his feet; he just wrapped his legs around the taller boy’s waist without a thought, trusting him implicitly. Unfortunately, Kenny lost his balance at that moment, stumbling backwards off the path, and they both went rolling into the ditch.

Neither of them was hurt, but Butters did end up sprawled on top of Kenny, so he had to get off before Kenny could regain his breath. They helped each other get up, after which they were thrown back into awkward silence as they just stared at each other. Kenny was the first to crack, trying his best to hold back a snort of laughter and failing, and then they were both laughing until tears sprang to their eyes.

“So, like, does this make you my b-boyfriend?” Butters inquired shyly after they had both collected themselves.

“This makes me whatever you want me to be, Buttercup.”

For the nth time that day, Butters found himself blushing. “Oh, wow… G-gee! Imagine that!”

This sent Kenny into another round of laughter, and Butters bumped his knuckles together in embarrassment. He soon quit, though, as he felt a hard object against one of his palms and he opened it up to see that he was holding the penny. He looked at it in confusion, not quite remembering having taken it from Kenny’s hand.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled ominously overhead and they both started.

“’Looks like we should hurry if we’re gonna get you home,” Kenny said, looking with distrust at the now cloudy sky.

“That’s okay!” Butters chirped. Kenny’s words had suddenly reminded him that both his parents would be at home now, and he was one hundred percent sure that he did not want them to know about his newly formed relationship. He wasn’t suicidal, after all. “You still would have to walk from my place to yours, and I wouldn’t want you getting soaked on my behalf.”

Kenny quirked an eyebrow, obviously incredulous. “’You sure?”

“Positive.” Butters bit his lip and smiled. “You already got wet once today.”

Kenny snickered. “More than once depending on how you think of it.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” He ruffled Butter’s duck-fluff hair with mischief gleaming in his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Butters beamed at this. “See ya!”

It was with a happy heart that Butters climbed his way back up onto the path and set his footsteps towards home. Thunder growled at regular intervals, reminding him that he would have to be quick. After walking a ways, he chanced turning back to wave at Kenny, but was disappointed when he saw that Kenny wasn’t there. All he saw was an area of scorched earth near where they had been laying in the ditch, and he realized with shock that lightning must have touched down there. Another clap of thunder made Butters jump, and then he was running off towards home.

He did not see the little army of rats carrying Kenny’s body away.

The rain came before Butters made it home, and he held his backpack over his head for shelter. The torrent did not last long, but it was violent, and despite Butters’ best efforts, he was thoroughly drenched. He was in a horrid mood as he traveled up the walkway to his house.

It appeared that his parents were going to have a reason to be sore with him anyway.

Just before he opened the door, he happened to turn back and saw something that brought a smile back to his face. A rainbow was stretching out over the town, framed by fluffy, white clouds. Butters had to do a double-take when he caught sight of one of them, because he could have sworn that he saw the shape of Kenny’s face in it. His palm felt hot after this realization, and he looked down to see that he was still holding the penny. He moved it from hand to hand, feeling the strange warmth of it.

He looked at the cloud one more time, smiling happily. “Tomorrow,” he whispered.

Then, putting the penny in his pocket, he went inside.


End file.
